Better to have no deal at Copenhagen than one that spells catastrophe

[CHIMO]

On the ninth day of the Copenhagen climate summit, Africa was sacrificed. The position of the G77 negotiating bloc, including African states, had been clear: a 2C increase in average global temperatures translates into a 3–3.5C increase in Africa. That means, according to the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, "an additional 55 million people could be at risk from hunger", and "water stress could affect between 350 and 600 million more people".

Archbishop Desmond Tutu puts it like this: "We are facing impending disaster on a monstrous scale … A global goal of about 2C is to condemn Africa to incineration and no modern development."

And yet that is precisely what Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi, proposed to do when he stopped off in Paris on his way to Copenhagen: standing with President Nicolas Sarkozy, and claiming to speak on behalf of all of Africa (he is the head of the African climate-negotiating group), he unveiled a plan that includes the dreaded 2C increase and offers developing countries just $10bn a year to help pay for everything climate related, from sea walls to malaria treatment to fighting deforestation.

It's hard to believe this is the same man who only three months ago was saying this: "We will use our numbers to delegitimise any agreement that is not consistent with our minimal position … If need be, we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threaten to be another rape of our continent … What we are not prepared to live with is global warming above the minimum avoidable level."And this: "We will participate in the upcoming negotiations not as supplicants pleading for our case but as negotiators defending our views and interests."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/17/copenhagen-no-deal-better-catastrophe

James Hansen is saying the same thing. Although, perhaps from a different perspective.

Climate Science

If there's anyone anxious for a global climate treaty, you'd think it would be James Hansen. He's widely regarded as the most influential climate scientist in the world. He has spent 30 years studying the earth's climate systems and perfecting models to predict the effects of climate change. And yet, he says the kind of deal that is likely to come out of the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen would be worse than no deal at all.

James Hansen is a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Studies at Columbia University and the Director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at NASA. And though he has authored numerous papers, he has just published his first book. It's called Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity. James Hansen joined us from New York City for a rare interview.

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200912/20091216.html
The audio is in part one. It comes after a few introductions.

[timeforpeace]

1. Funny, that's what they're saying about the Senate's "HCR" bill. Good idea, too.

[Ghost Dog]

2. If there is no Real Deal then the Global Mass Revolution,

in all its horror, starts now.

Edit: Is this familiar to you?